He then moved into the A's front office, becoming an advance scout, and eventually an assistant to then-A's GM Sandy Alderson. In 1997, Alderson stepped down as GM and Beane replaced him. Since then, Beane has crafted the A's into one of the most successful regular-season teams in baseball, primarily through the shrewd application of sabermetric principles. Despite this, the A's have been repeatedly thwarted in their bid to win in the playoffs.